1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to the field of medical treatments for reducing the size and effect of various adhesions or lesions in soft tissues, such as muscles, tendons, blood vessels, fascia, and nerves. More specifically, medical treatments according to the invention utilize an expert system for directing the non-surgical manual manipulation of soft tissues to identify and treat soft tissue adhesions that cause numbness, pain, and restricted range of motion.
2. Statement of the Problem
Unnecessary surgeries are sometimes performed because the medical profession lacks a unified and comprehensive training program for the non-surgical treatment of all types of soft tissue lesions. Prior treatments and training have focused on specific disorders, which results in an ad hoc overall level of expertise in the medical profession and a preference for surgical intervention. Medical practitioners are often unaware of non-surgical treatments offering higher success rates and less trauma to their patients than can be obtained from surgical procedures. There is a need for an expert system to guide medical doctors, chiropractors, physical therapists, and occupational therapists in implementing protocols for the non-surgical treatment of all types of soft tissue lesions. This expert system would prevent unnecessary surgeries.
Historically, a preferred treatment modality has been the surgical excision of lesions, if possible, once they become problematic. These surgeries may not be needed even though they may be commonplace. By way of example, surgery for carpal tunnel syndrome can be performed to divide the transverse carpal ligament in a manner that relieves pressure on the median nerve. U.S. Pat. No. 5,501,657 to Feero reports that surgical techniques intended to relieve the syndrome have a failure rate ranging from 50% to 75%. The '657 patent teaches a non-surgical technique for the relief of pain associated with carpal tunnel syndrome. The massage technique includes stretching muscles of the forearm and hand combined with longitudinal manipulation of the forearm muscles to improve circulation. Even though the '657 patent does not identify a success rate for the technique that it teaches, the technique is said to be more successful than prior surgical techniques.
Surgical techniques for soft tissue injuries have low success rates because surgery cannot address all of the potential problem areas. Additionally, surgery itself produces trauma. Leahy in New Treatment of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome, Chiropractic Sports Medicine (1992) proposed a non-surgical technique for the treatment of carpal tunnel syndrome. Leahy recognized that carpal tunnel syndrome may involve lesions of the carpal canal, the median nerve, the radial nerve, the posterior interosseus nerve, the axilla, the anterior interosseous nerve, and the ulnar nerve. Thus, the blanket designation of `carpal tunnel syndrome` is inadequate to describe the afflicted anatomy with particularity.